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What We Do

The ROCK Center offers arts-based community programming for youth and families that focuses on cultivating resilience and mental wellness through connection, coping skills, and competency.

Our Approach to Mental Wellness

We believe that the challenges our students and communities face regarding mental health, substance misuse, and violence cannot be solved by traditional models of individualized talk therapy alone. Through our work in community, we have observed how isolation and disconnection from community not only exacerbate these challenges but often lie at their core. We believe part of the solution must be in creating spaces of authentic connecting where students practice being in community as an act of healing. Finally, we believe that all transformation and change begins within. We practice mindfulness as a means of empowering a deeper awareness of self, and cultivating the strengths and gifts we each bring to community. This is a model of mental wellness that expands the capacity for transformation.

Adapted from Margaret Blaustein and Kristine Kinniburgh's Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC) Model, our Peace Warriors programming is grounded in the 3 C's that support all youth in building resilience and mental wellness:

Connection, Coping, and Competency.

Build Connection Skills

Youth who participate in ROCK Center programming will develop positive relationships skills such as helping others, practicing empathy and inclusion, resolving conflict through dialogue, and connecting with others through art. Youth will experience a sense of community and belonging through our relationship-focused programming.

Build Coping Skills

Youth who participate in ROCK Center programming will improve their abilities to identify, express, and modulate their emotions and behaviors. Some examples include knowing how to calm down when feeling upset, learning how to talk to others about their feelings, and identifying mindfulness tools to help them move through anger.

Build Competencies

Youth who participate in ROCK Center programming will be able to identify areas in which they have gained new levels of skill. From visual art, to spoken word poetry, to music making and mindfulness, youth will work with partner artists and other professionals to grow and expand their skill set.